Package for beverage infusion material



Jan, 22, 1957 J. .1. RODTH 2,773,739

PACKAGE FOR BEVERAGE INFUSION MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 16.1954 INVENTOR. Jase 0k Jfiad/k AT TORN E Y5.

Jan. 22, 1957 J. J. RODTH PACKAGE FOR BEVERAGE INFUSION MATERIAL 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 16, 1954 INVENTOR. (Yoga 9% Jfiodf/z fiMaW/JZATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 2,778,739 PACKAGE FOR BEVERAGE INFUSION MATERIALJoseph J. Rodth, Swansea, Mass, assignor, by mesne assignments, toSealpak Corporation, a corporation of New York Application July 16,1954, Serial No. 443,789 Claims. cl. 99-171 This invention relates toimprovements in an infuser or food pellet and an apparatus for use toextract useful qualifies therefrom by infusion.

Infusers for individual portions of food material such as tea or coffeeare well known in the art. Frequently such food materials are put up inbags and like packages and commonly referred to as tea bags, coifee bagsor cartridges. When it is required that such packages be sealed in orderto prevent the escape of volatile material and preserve the aroma andflavor of the contents (such as ground coffee), the sealing medium maytake the form of a separate closure which is removed prior to using thepackage or such sealing medium may be a gelatinous A material whichdissolves in the extracting liquid.

An object of the invention is to improve upon the usual sealing mediumof the prior art.

Another object of the invention is to provide a package that may bestored indefinitely.

Another object is to provide a package of the above character soconstructed as to provide for the use of afragile material for the bodythereof and to support at least one of the walls thereof in a manner topermit the piercing thereof without collapsing of the package. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide a unit which may be usedfor machine handling.

Another object is to provide a package of the above Patented Jan. 22,1957 ice Figure 5 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale through apiece of laminated foil material employed in forming certain elements ofthe pellet;

Figure 6 is a central sectional view through an apparatus for extractingby infusion the foodstuff contained in the pellet shown in Figure l; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 7-7 of Figure6.

Referring to Figures 1-5, 10 designates generally an in fuser or pelletof a food material which will be soluble in some liquid as for exampleground coffee in a state: suitable for extraction by hot water infusion.The in-- fuser or pellet 10 comprises a cup-like body 11 which is shownas being circular but may be made in various appropriate shapes asdesired. The body 11 has a bottom wall 12 which extends in a flat planeand an annular side wall 13 united to the bottom wall 12 extendstherefrom on an outward taper and has an annular flange 14 whichprojects outwardly at the upper edge thereof substantially parallel tothe bottom wall 12. The body 11 may be made by a usual drawing operationfrom suitable sheet stock of any suitable material compatible with theparticular nature of the food material to be contained therein and to beable to withstand without collapsing or deterioration the temperature ofthe extracting liquid such as hot or boiling water and the pressure atwhich it may be required to pass said water through the pellet. Suchmaterial must also be of a nature to be readily formed in a practicalmanner in the aluminium foil which is known in the art as laminatedcharacter so constructed as to provide for rigidity at the location ofsealing between the package and the apparatus employed for extracting asolution from the contents of the. package.

Another object is to provide a package of the above character which willenable a quicker extraction of a solution from the package.

Another object is to provide a package of the above character soconstructed as to be particularly adapted to be formed in an automaticmanner.

Another object is to provide a package of the above character which maybe manufactured at a competitive cost.

A more specific object is to provide a package of the above character soconstructed as to permit the use of a metallic foil for the walls of thebody of the package.

Another object'is to provide an apparatus for extracting a solution fromthe above package.

vWith these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction as wil1 be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the coifee, of the pellet.

in the ground coffee is maintained fresh until used. The

foil (see Figure 5) is suitable for making the above described body 11.The core of the material is a metallic foil 15 both side surfaces ofwhich have been coated with a thermoplastic material '16 as for examplepolyethylene. The thermoplastic coating 16 adds rigidity to the foil andis such as to withstand the temperature of boiling water without undulysoftening thereof or imparting a foreign taste to the food contents ofthe pellet. This coating also provides for sealing the package.

A metal disk or rigid member 17 (see Figures 2 and 3) has a shallowannular recess 13 in a base portion thereof which extends inwardly fromthe lower side thereof and a portion shaped as a hollow f'rustro-conicalhublike projection 19 which rises centrally from the wall 20 of therecess. The wall 20 of the recess 18 and side wall 21 of the projection19 are perforated with openings 22, 23, respectively. The member 17 isreceived within the cup body 11 and its outer margin rests flat againstthe bottom thereof. A sheet 24 of a filter material as for examplemuslin, although various filters may be used, may be positioned over themember 17 to an extent to cover said openings 22 and 23. A filter,however, is not necessary in many instances. A closure 25 which is madeof the same material as that of the body 11 is placed or stretchedacross the body 11 and engages the flange 14 and the hub 19 thereof. Thethermoplastic material 15 of the flange 14 and of the closure 25 arewelded to each other under heat and pressure to hermetically seal theground food material contents 26, such as for example Thus, a pellet 19is provided wherepellet or infuser 10 hereinabove described isparticularly adapted for use in combination'with the apparatus shown inFigure 6.

The apparatus comprises a housing designated generally 27 which iscomposed of lower and upper telescopically related sections 28 and 29.The section 23 has a circular base 30 from which there depends acentrally disposed boss-like projection 31 having a recess 32 therein,which boss is turned inwardly at the lower end as at 33 and forms anannular shoulder 34. An annular groove extends inwardly from the upperside of base '36 and receives an O-ring seal 35' therein. The uppersection 29 is of an inverted cup-like formation having a dependingannular wall 36in which there is formed an inner annular groove 37 toreceive a packing ring or seal 37. A plurality of piercing fingers '38project downwardly from the upper Wall 39 of section 29 for a purpose tohereinafter appear. The lower marginal edge of the wall 36 telescopesover the peripheral flange or wall 40 of the base 30 with the seal ring37"sealing1y engaging the said base 30 at the peripheral edge portionthereof. The sections 28 and 29 are detacha'bly held in assembledrelation by frictional engagement of the walls 36 and 40 and formtherebetween an'infusion chamber 41.

The upper section 29 has a vertically extending ccn tral boss 42 whichhas a bore 43 opening into chamber 41. The inner end portion of the bore53 is reduced as at 44 and forms a stop shoulder 45. A plunger 46 isslidably received in the bore 43 and is reduced at the inner end portionthereof to project through the reduced bore portion 44. The plunger 46has a guide bore 47 extending inwardly from the upper end thereof inwhich is received a compression spring 48, one end of which abutsagainst the bottom wall of bore 47 and the other end of which abutsagainst the bottom wall of bore 43 and applies a resilient bias on theplunger 46 in a direction tending to move the same into said chamber 41.A flexile conduit 49 leads from a suitable supply source (not shown) ofwater at boiling temperature under pressure above atmosphere to chamber41.

The housing 27 is slidably mounted on a vertical post 50 which has acentral bore 51 therethrough which is enlarged at the upper end portionas at 52 to frictionally receive and hold a piercing member 53 which hasa body 54 of a cross formation as seen in Figure 7. The post is mountedon a horizontally extending support 55 which engages a neck portion 56on the post. The boss 31 of section 28 slidably engages the post 50, andan' O-ring 57 is positioned between adjacent wall portions of the postand boss to block'leakage therebetween. A compression spring 58encircles the boss 31, one end of which abuts against the support 55 andthe other end of which abuts against the base 30 to apply a bias on saidhousing in a direction tending to move the same upwardly on the saidpost 50.

In the operation of the apparatus hereinabove described, the uppersection 29 is removed from lower section 28 by lifting the sametherefrom, and an infuser or pellet it) is inserted and centered on thebase 30. This will position the openings 22 of the pellet inwardly ofthe seal 35' and the marginal edge of the rigid member 17 opposite theseal 35. The plunger46 under bias of spring 48 will have been movedoutwardly of bore 47 to the extent of shoulder 45. With the pellet 10 inproper position the section 29 is inserted on the lower section. Theplunger 46 will engage the central portion of rigid member 17 and applya pressure'thereon to engage the pellet against the seal 35. Furthermovement of section 29in the same direction will carry fingers 38through wall 25 of the pellet or infuser and engage seal 37' with theedge of the base 30, thus sealing chamber 41 at seal 37' and sealing thepellet at seal 35 whereby fluid introduced into chamber 41 will beblocked from passing out of chamber-41 other than will pass through thepellet. The piercing member 53 is normally at a position for the head53' thereof to be beneath the upper edge ofbase 30. Upon a downwardpressure applied on thehousing to move the same on the post 50 againstbias of spring 58, the wall 12 of the pellet 19 will be moved againstthe piercing 'head 53' andbe ruptured thereby as seen at 12' in Figure 6to provide an outlet opening from the pellet. Upon the release of thedownward force applied on the housing, the bias of spring 58 will movethe housing upwardly to free the pellet of the piercing member 53.

The supply of liquid such as boiling water under pressure aboveatmosphere may now'be turned on through a suitable control ,(notshown).The water will flow into chamber .41 and pass .throughopeningsdtl madein the wall 25 by fingers 38 and pass out of pellet through opening 22,23 in the rigid member 17 and thence into recess 18 and out throughopening 12 past piercing member 53 to bore 51 which forms a passagewayfor the elfusion liquid and beneath which a receptacle such as a cup maybe positioned to receive the solution extracted from the pellet 10.

I claim:

1. A hermetically sealed package comprising a container having spacedwalls made .of relatively thin frangible material, a perforatedrelatively rigid member ,between said walls having a baseportionengaging one wall and a central projection extending therefrom intoengagement with the other wall tohold the Walls in spaced relation andbeverage infusion material between said walls about said centralprojection.

2. A hermetically sealed package as set forth in claim 1 wherein thesaid walls are made of a metallic foil.

3. A package as in claim 1 wherein the base of said rigid member is adisk with openings therethrough.

4. A hermetically sealed package of liquid soluble food material to beextracted by infusion comprising a gen erally cup-shaped body having anannular flange at the upper edge of the side Wall thereof, a closure forsaid body extending across the opening of said cup and engaging the saidflange and welded thereto, a metal disk within said cup engaging thebottom wall of said cup and having an apertured central raised portionextending into engagement with saidclosure, said disk being aperturedadjacent said central portion for the passage of the effu sion solutionfromsaid package, beverage infusion material in said cup andabout saidcentral raised portion.

5. A hermetically sealed package of liquid soluble food material to beextracted .by infusion comprising a generally cup-shaped body having anannular flange at the upper edge of the side wall thereof, a closure forsaid body extending across the opening of said cup and engaging the saidflange and welded thereto, a metal disk within said cup engaging thebottom wall of said cup and having an aperturedcentral raised portionextending into engagement withsaid closure, saiddisk being aperturedadjacent said central portion for the passageof the elfusion solutionfrom said package, and a sheet of flter material covering 'the.openingsin said disk, beverage infusion material in said cup and about saidcentral raised portion. j

ReferencesCited in'the fileof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FranceSept.

4. A HERMETICALLY SEALED PACKAGE OF LIQUID SOLUBLE FOOD MATERIAL TO BEEXTRACTED BY INFUSION COMPRISING A GENERALLY CUP-SHAPED BODY HAVING ANANNULAR FLANGE AT THE UPPER EDGE OF THE SIDE WALL THEREOF, A CLOSURE FORSAID BODY EXTENDING ACROSS THE OPENING OF SAID CUP AND ENGAGING THE SAIDFLANGE AND WELDED THERETO, A METAL DISK WITHIN SAID CUP ENGAGING THEBOTTOM WALL OF SAID CUP AND